Stepwise whistling toys



Jan. 28, 1964 HIROSHI OGATA STEPWISE WHISTLING TOYS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 7. 1961 Jan. 28, 1964 HIROSHI OGATA STEPWISE wmsmuc TOYS a Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 7, 1961 C wun 3 7 11 m milm FIG 779 IN V EN TOR.

Jan. 28, 1964 HlROSHl OGATA 3,119,198

STEPWISE WHISTLING TOYS Filed'April 7, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent 3,119,133 STEPWESE WHESTLING TOYS Hiroshi Ggata', 47 Nagazunticho, Shihnyaltu, Tokyo, lapan Filed Apr. 7, 1961, Ser. No. 101,467 Claims priority, application .l'apan Dec. 29, 1%0 Claims. ((15. 46-418) The present invention relates to Whistling toys and particularly to stepwise whistling toys which are adapted to make intermittent or stepwise sounds such as mama or papa.

Stepwise whistling toys have already been proposed which include a whistle or pipe adapted to sound when air passes therethrough and an air-tight bag communicating with the air inlet of the whistle and manually collapsible to force .the air contained in the bag through the whistle.

Such previous whistling toys, however, cannot sound or whistle stepwise unless the bag is collapsed at an appropriate rate.

The present invention has for its object to provide a stepwise whistling toy comprising a pipe adapted to sound or whistle when air passes therethrough, an air-tight bag communicating with the air inlet of said pipe and manually collapsible to force the air contained in the bag through said pipe, an air-tight chamber communicating with the air outlet of said pipe, a valve opening formed in the wall of said air-tight chamber, a valve body including a plurality of axially spaced apart recesses and at least one valve element arranged alternately with said recesses, said valve body being mounted in said valve opening for axial sliding movement so as to open said valve opening only when any one of said recesses is aligned with said valve opening, and a mechanical linkage -for transforming the inward movement of the wall of said air-tight bag when the latter is collapsed manually into the axial sliding movement of said valve body, whereby distinct whistling sounds are produced stepwise whenever the bag is manually collapsed irrespective of the rate of the collapsing movement. In such whistling toy, the desired stepwise whistling sounds are obtained without fail since the valve body effects positive axial movement under control of the mechanical linkage connected thereto as the bag wall is collapsed manually.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a stepwise whistling toy doll comprising a whistling device of the kind described and a lip operating mechanism operatively associated with the whistling device in a manner so that the doll mouth is opened as the whistling device is actuated and closed as the latter is released.

With previous whistling toys, not including any such positive valve driving mechanism as the one described, their valve body may not eifect movement relative to a valve opening therefor at a proper rate unless the bag is collapsed at an appropriate rate. This is why considerable skill has been required to produce stepwise whistling sounds, rendering such whistling toys unsuitable for little children. The present invention is intended to overcome such difliculty, providing a stepwise whistling toy having an advantage of easy operation.

According to the present invention, there is also provided a stepwise whistling toy comprising an airtight chamber, a partition formed in the chamber, a pipe fitted in said partition and adapted to whistle when air is passed therethrough, a flexible air-tight bag having its wall connected with said partition and forming another airtight chamber communicating with the air inlet of said pipe, the first-mentioned air-tight chamber communicating with the :air outlet of said pipe and having a valve opening formed in the wall of said first-mentioned air chamber, a valve body adapted for axial sliding movement in said valve opening to open and close the latter and having at least one valve element and a plurality of axially spaced w lC apart recesses arranged in alternate relation to the valve element so that the valve port is opened only when one of the recesses is in alignment with the valve port, and a mechanical linkage adapted to transform the inward movement of the bag wall as the bag is manually collapsed into the :axial movement of the valve body, whereby distinct whistling sounds are produced stepwise whenever the bag is manually collapsed irrespective of the rate of the collapsing movement.

The said mechanical linkage is accommodated in the air-tight bag and, according to one embodiment, corn prises a combination of link levers and, according to another embodiment, the bag wall forms a part of the linkage.

Also, a resilient means in provided separately or as a part of said linkage for restoring the bag and the linkage as well as parts associated therewith to their norm-a1 inoperative position.

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate some embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross sectional view of a whistling toy embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 represents a cross sectional view substantially taken along the line AA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view of a doll embodying the invention, the body of which forms an air bag;

FIG. 4 is a schematic showing of another doll embodying the present invention, the body wall of the doll acting as a lever of the linkage;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a member of the embodiment of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the present invention having a linkage adapted to respond to manual pressure applied in .two directions normal to each other;

FIG. 7 represents longitudinal cross sections of various forms of the valve body adapted for use in whistling toys of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross sectional view of a further embodiment of the present invention having a mechanism associated with the whistling device for operating the lower lip of the doll;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the lip operating mechanism and the whistling device shown in FIG. 8 with the doll body and head sections removed;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the lip structure of the doll shown in FIG. 8; and

FIG. 11 illustrates the lip operation of the mouth of the doll shown in FIG. 8.

Referring to the drawings, particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, numeral 1 designates a bag-like body formed of airtight or impermeable, flexible plastic material and having a tubular portion 2 at the top. Tightly fitted in said tubu lar portion 2 is a cylindrical hollow member 6 formed of substantially rigid plastic material. The hollow cylindrical member 6 comprises a top wall, a partition or intermediate wall and a bottom wall. Formed in the intermediate wall is an opening 4 which receives a whistle or pipe 5. Similarly, formed in the top wall is a valve port or round opening '7 in which a cylindrical valve body It) is mounted for sliding movement. Downwardly extending from the bottom of the valve body 10 is a valve rod 13 which is slidably supported in a bore formed in the intermediate wall of the hollow member 6. The valve rod 13 extends also through a bore formed in the bottom wall of the hollow member 6 downwardly to reach the center or its vicinity of the interior of the bag 1, as shown. Air passageways 21 are also formed in the bottom wall of the hollow member.

Formed in the valve body 10 are cross bores 8 and 9 vertically spaced apart from each other by a suitable distance so that substantial fluid communication is provided between the upper chamber 3 defined in the hollow member 6 by the top and intermediate walls thereof and the exterior atmosphere only when either of the cross bores 8 and 9 is brought into alignment with the valve port 7 during the vertical sliding movement of the valve body 10. A pair of link levers 11 are pivotally connected to the side wall of the hollow member 6 at two diametrically opposite points at the bottom thereof and downwardly extend to respective pivotal connections 11' with the opposite ends of a resilient wire element comprising a coiled medial portion and two diverging arms 12. The coiled medial portion of the resilient wire element is pivotally connected with the valve rod 13 at the bottom thereof, as illustrated.

With the whistling toy described above and shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when the bag 1 is subjected to manual transverse pressure adjacent the pivotal connections 11, the bag itself collapses into position as indicated by the chain lines in FIG. 1 while at the same time the collapsing movement of the bag is transformed by means of the mechartical linkage into upward axial movement of the valve rod and the valve body 10 so that the latter effects upward sliding movement through the valve port 7. The valve body 10 in its normal or inoperative position indicated by the solid lines in H6. 1 closes the valve port 7, but as it is raised to place the cross bore 8 substantially in alignment with the valve port 7 to provide communication between the chamber 3 and the exterior atmosphere, the air in the bag 1 is allowed to How through the passageways 21, the pipe and further through the valve port 7 to the atmosphere, causing the pipe to whistle. As the valve body continues to rise to such an extent as to cause the valve port 7 to receive that portion of the valve body extending between the cross bores 3 and 9, the communication between the chamber 3 and the atmosphere will be closed off to stop whistling of the pipe 5. The valve body 19 still continues to rise to place the cross bore therein in alignment with the valve port 7, when the pipe 5 whistles again. It will thus be recognized that with this arrangement two distinct whistling sounds are produced without fail every time the bag is manually collapsed irrespective of the rate of the collapsing movement.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the embodiment shown therein is of substantially the same construction as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 except that the bag 1' takes the form of the body of a doll and that the hollow cylindrical member 6' is connected loosely and airtightly with the upper cylindrical portion 2' of the bag 1', the cylindrical portion 2' having the head 22 of the doll mounted fast on top thereof. The wall of the head 22 is covered with hair 23 over a part of its area where bores 24 are opened to allow air passage therethrough.

schematically shown in FIG. 4 is a further embodiment of the present invention which is similar to that shown in FIG. 3 except that it does not include any links corresponding to the levers 11 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 but the function of such links is served by the front and back wall-s 26 and 27 of the doll. To this end, the body of the doll or at least the walls 26 and 27 thereof are required to have a substantial stiffness. A resilient element 12", corresponding to the element 12 in FIG. 1, is formed as shown in FIG. 5 and has its opposite ends 28 seated against respective shoulders 29 formed inside of the front and back walls 26, 27 of the doll.

FIG. 6 illustrates a still further embodiment of the invention which only differs from any of the previous embodiments in that it includes four links 31 in place of the two levers 11 shown in FIG. 1 and that resilient means for restoring the collapsed bag and its associated mechanism immediately after whistling to their normal inoperative position takes the form of a coiled spring 33 encircling the valve rod 32. With this arrangement, it will readily be appreciated that the manual pressure for collapsing the bag may be applied thereon in any of two directions normal to each other as desired to be effectively transformed into axial movement of the valve rod and hence the valve body. This means that, only if the bag per so has a stifiness or rigidity of some extent, desired whistling sounds may be produced irrespective of the manner in which the bag is gripped by hand.

FIGS. 7a to 7f illustrate various forms of valve body adapted for use in the whistling toy according to the present invention. These forms of valve body correspond to respective tones or rhythms of the intermittent whistling sound produced as will be easily understood.

FIGS. 8 to 11 illustrate a further embodiment of the present invention in the form of a doll having a mouth adapted to open and close each time the whistling mechanism is actuated.

As shown, a casing 37 formed of sheet metal and having a flanged channel section is mounted in a cavity 36 formed in the doll head 35. Extending outwardly from the bottom of the opposite side walls 39 and 39' of the casing 37 are respective flanges 41 and 41 which are adapted to be suitably secured to the body of the doll head 35. The top wall of the casing 37 projects forwardly downwardly as indicated at 43 and is connected at the front end with an upper lip member 45 terminating in a rolled tubular formation X.

The side walls 39 and 39' of the casing 37 cooperate at the lower front end to pivotally carry a lever plate 47 as indicated at 48, which forms a lower lip member terminating in a rolled tubular formation Y. The lower lip member 47 extends rearwardly beyond the pivotal connection 48 with the side walls 39 and 39' to form an abutment in continued engagement with the top end of an actuating rod 51, which extends upwardly from the top of the valve body 10 of the whistling device.

Arraigned between the top wall and the abutment is a coiled spring 49 urging said abutment downwardly. It will thus be observed that the lower lip member 47 is normally held in closed position with the rolled end Y in contact with the opposite rolled end X of the upper lip member 45.

Referring now to FIG. 10, the rolled tubular ends X and Y of the respective lip members 45 and 47 embrace a pair of fibrous flexible cords or braids 61 and 63, respectively, which are tied together at opposite ends with an appropriate length of yarn 65. A pair of thin cover members 53 and 55, being conveniently secured to the upper and lower edges of a mouth opening of the doll communicating with said cavity 36, respectively cover the upper and lower lips comprising the respective tubular formations X, Y and braids 61, 63 embraced thereby for movement therewith.

In operation of this embodiment, as the doll body 1' is grasped by hand to operate the whistling mechanism, the actuating rod 51 is moved upwardly to pivotally move the lower lip member 47 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 8, against the bias of the coiled spring 49 to open the mouth of the doll. In FIGS. 10 and 11, the rolled tubular end formation of the lower lip member 47 in its opened position is indicated by the chain lines as at Y. It will be readily recognized that the doll mouth is adapted to open each time it is operated to whistle and close as the doll body is released.

While several embodiments of the invention have been shown and described herein, it willbe evident that various changes in the construction and arrangement of parts may be made without exceeding the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An intermittent whistling toy comprising a pipe having an inlet and an air outlet and adapted to whistle when air passes therethrough, an air-tight bag having a single opening in which said pipe is accommodated, said bag communicating with the air inlet of said pipe and being manually collapsible by an external force applied directly to the bag to force air contained in the bag through said pipe via the air outlet, said pipe mounted in an air-tight chamber sealably accommodated in the opening of the bag and communicating with the air outlet of said pipe, a valve opening being formed in said air-tight chamber, a valve body having a plurality of axially spaced recesses, said valve body being mounted in said valve opening for axial sliding movement so as to open said valve opening only when any one of said recesses is aligned with said valve opening, and means coupling the bag to said valve body for transforming inward movement of the wall of said air-tight bag when the latter is collapsed manually by said external force into axial sliding movement of said valve body to produce distinct intermittent whistling sounds whenever the bag is manually collapsed irrespective of the rate of the collapsing movement of the bag.

2. An intermittent whistling toy comprising an air-tight chamber, a partition in the chamber dividing said chamber into two portions, a pipe in said partition and adapted to whistle when air is passed therethrough, a flexible airtight bag constituting the body of the doll having a wall with a single opening in which is positioned said air-tight chamber in sealed relationship whereby said bag forms another air-tight chamber, the latter communicating with the pipe, the first-mentioned air-tight chamber communicating with the pipe and having a valve opening, a valve body supported for axial sliding movement in said valve opening to open and close the latter and having a plurality of axially spaced apart recesses which respectively provide communication between the first said air tight chamber and the atmosphere when one of the recesses is in alignment with the valve opening, and a mechanical linkage adapted to transform inward movement of the bag When the bag is manually collapsed into axial movement of the valve body, whereby distinct whistling sounds are intermittently produced in accordance with the passing of the recesses past the valve opening whenever the bag is manually collapsed and irrespective of the rate of the collapsing movement.

3. An intermittent whistling toy comprising an air-tight chamber, a partition formed in the chamber, a pipe in said partition and adapted to whistle when air is passed therethrough, a flexible air-tight bag having a wall with a single opening in which is connected said air-tight chamber to form another air-tight chamber communicating with the pipe, the first-mentioned air-tight chamber communicating with the pipe and having a valve opening, a valve body supported for axial sliding movement in said valve opening to open and close the latter and having a plurality of axially spaced recesses which respectively provide communication between the first said air-tight chamber and the atmosphere when the recesses are respectively in alignment with the valve opening, and a mechanical linkage in said second air-tight chamber and adapted to transform inward movement of the bag wall as the bag is manually collapsed into axial movement of the valve body, said linkage comprising at least one pair of link levers pivotally connected to the wall of said first-mentioned air-tight chamber and to the valve body.

4. An intermittent whistling toy comprising an airtight chamber, a partition formed in the chamber, a pipe in said partition and adapted to whistle when air is passed therethrough, a flexible air-tight bag having a wall provided with a single opening in which is connected said first air-tight chamber to form another air-tight chamber in said bag, the latter chamber communicating with the pipe, the first-mentioned air-tight chamber communicating with the pipe and having a valve opening, a valve body supported for axial sliding movement in said valve opening to open and close the latter and having a plurality of axially spaced recesses to provide communication between the first said air-tight chamber and the atmosphere when the recesses 'are respectively in alignment with the valve opening, and a mechanical linkage in said second air-tight chamber and adapted to transform inward movement of the bag when the bag is manually collapsed into axial movement of the valve body through said valve opening, said linkage comprising at least one pair of link levers pivotally connected to said first mentioned air-tight chamber and to the valve body, said pair of link levers being integral with respective wall portions of the bag.

5. An intermittent whistling doll comprising an opentop flexible hollow body, a solid head having an openbottom cavity formed therein mounted on top of said flexible body to form a unitary assembly, a whistling device supported in said flexible body, and a lip operating mechanism mounted in said cavity in the doll head and operatively associated with said whistling device; said whistling device comprising a pipe adapted to whistle when air passes therethrough and having an air outlet and an air inlet communicating with said hollow in the doll body, an air-tight chamber communicating with the air outlet of said pipe, a valve opening in the top wall of said air-tight chamber, a valve body including a plurality of axially spaced recesses and including solid portions between said recesses, said valve body being supported in said valve opening for axial sliding movement so as to open said valve opening when the recesses are respectively aligned in said valve opening, a mechanical linkage for transforming inward movement of the wall of the doll body when the latter is manually collapsed by direct external force into the axial sliding movement of said valve body to produce distinct intermittent Whistling sounds when the recesses are aligned in the valve opening irrespective of the rate of collapsing movement, and an actuator rod extending upwardly (from the top of said valve body; said lip operating mechanism including a channel-sectioned casing secured to the solid doll head, the bottom of the channel forming the top wall of said casing, an upper lip member integrally connected to said top wall of said casing, a lower lip member in the form of a lever plate pivotally connected to the side walls of the casing, and spring means between the top wall of the casing and the portion of the lever plate which extends rearwardly beyond said pivotal connection with the side walls of said casing to urge the lever plate into a normal position wherein the lip end of said lever plate is in contact with the lip end of said upper lip member, said lever plate portion being held in engagement with the top end of said actuator rod extending upwardly from the valve body of the whistling device.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,667,718 Wilhelm Feb. 2, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 547,385 France Sept. 20, 1922 

5. AN INTERMITTENT WHISTLING DOLL COMPRISING AN OPENTOP FLEXIBLE HOLLOW BODY, A SOLID HEAD HAVING AN OPENBOTTOM CAVITY FORMED THEREIN MOUNTED ON TOP OF SAID FLEXIBLE BODY TO FORM A UNITARY ASSEMBLY, A WHISTLING DEVICE SUPPORTED IN SAID FLEXIBLE BODY, AND A LIP OPERATING MECHANISM MOUNTED IN SAID CAVITY IN THE DOLL HEAD AND OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID WHISTLING DEVICE; SAID WHISTLING DEVICE COMPRISING A PIPE ADAPTED TO WHISTLE WHEN AIR PASSES THERETHROUGH AND HAVING AN AIR OUTLET AND AN AIR INLET COMMUNICATING WITH SAID HOLLOW IN THE DOLL BODY, AN AIR-TIGHT CHAMBER COMMUNICATING WITH THE AIR OUTLET OF SAID PIPE, A VALVE OPENING IN THE TOP WALL OF SAID AIR-TIGHT CHAMBER, A VALVE BODY INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF AXIALLY SPACED RECESSES AND INCLUDING SOLID PORTIONS BETWEEN SAID RECESSES, SAID VALVE BODY BEING SUPPORTED IN SAID VALVE OPENING FOR AXIAL SLIDING MOVEMENT SO AS TO OPEN SAID VALVE OPENING WHEN THE RECESS ARE RESPECTIVELY ALIGNED IN SAID VALVE OPENING, A MECHANICAL LINKAGE FOR TRANSFORMING INWARD MOVEMENT OF THE WALL OF THE DOLL BODY WHEN THE LATTER IS MANUALLY COLLAPSED BY DIRECT EXTERNAL FORCE INTO THE AXIAL SLIDING MOVEMENT OF SAID VALVE BODY TO PRODUCE DISTINCT INTERMITTENT WHISTLING SOUNDS WHEN THE RECESSES ARE ALIGNED IN THE VALVE OPENING IRRESPECTIVE OF THE RATE OF COLLAPSING MOVEMENT, AND AN ACTUATOR ROD EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM THE TOP OF SAID VALVE BODY; SAID LIP OPERATING MECHANISM INCLUDING A CHANNEL-SECTIONED CASING SECURED TO THE SOLID DOLL HEAD, THE BOTTOM OF THE CHANNEL FORMING THE TOP WALL OF SAID CASING, AN UPPER LIP MEMBER INTEGRALLY CONNECTED TO SAID TOP WALL OF SAID CASING, A LOWER LIP MEMBER IN THE FORM OF A LEVER PLATE PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE SIDE WALLS OF THE CASING, AND SPRING MEANS BETWEEN THE TOP WALL OF THE CASING AND THE PORTION OF THE LEVER PLATE WHICH EXTENDS REARWARDLY BEYOND SAID PIVOTAL CONNECTION WITH THE SIDE WALLS OF SAID CASING TO URGE THE LEVER PLATE INTO A NORMAL POSITION WHEREIN THE LIP END OF SAID LEVER PLATE IS IN CONTACT WITH THE LIP END OF SAID UPPER LIP MEMBER, SAID LEVER PLATE PORTION BEING HELD IN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE TOP END OF SAID ACTUATOR ROD EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM THE VALVE BODY OF THE WHISTLING DEVICE. 